#17 • Walrus Tusk & Baleen "Nanuk 1929" Model Brigantine - Brian Kulik

Part of September 2025 Premier Auction (live auction by Alaska Premier Auctions & Appraisals)

High bid $1,000.00

Status: Sold

Category: Ethnographic Objects

A striking handcrafted ship model titled "Nanuk 1929" and signed by Inupiaq artist Brian Kulik (b.1976). The two-masted sailing vessel is constructed with exceptional attention to detail, featuring a hull carved from walrus tusk, richly colored baleen sails in shades of chocolate and black, fine rigging, and tusk accents. The model is mounted on a naturally textured section of fossilized walrus tusk, the bark layers having separated in places as shown, revealing the concentric layers within. The Nanuk was a wooden schooner built in 1882, originally used as a sealing and whaling vessel before gaining wider fame under the ownership of the Wrangel family and Captain C.T. Pedersen, a Danish-American trader based in Nome, Alaska. It became one of the best-known vessels of the early 20th-century Arctic trade and exploration routes, especially in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea. Measures approximately 14" x 2" x 10.5" tall.